Rebranded Silicon Valley Ballet makes spirited debut

By Claudia Bauer

Updated
10:12 am PDT, Monday, October 19, 2015

Friday evening was a night of firsts for Silicon Valley Ballet. Not only did the former San Jose Ballet debut under its new moniker, but it also became the first American company to perform Alicia Alonso’s “Giselle.” Choreographed in 1948 by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, it has been performed by some of the great companies around the world.

The troupe’s Cuban-trained artistic director, José Manuel Carreño, grew up dancing this “Giselle” and has long wanted to set it on an American company. It’s easy to see why — along with bravura choreography and tragic romance, Alonso’s version offers lavish, theatrical staging that transformed San Jose Center for the Performing Arts into an enchanted realm.

Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s Romantic-era masterpiece had its world premiere in Paris in 1841, with a lyrical score by Adolphe Adam (Silicon Valley’s recording suffered from poor amplification). In this cautionary tale, fragile Rhineland peasant girl Giselle dies of a broken heart when the villager she loves is exposed as a caddish nobleman betrothed to a countess. Reborn in the “white” Act 2, one of ballet’s most famous spectacles, Giselle is initiated into the Wilis, vengeful spirits of jilted women who haunt the forest and make men dance to their deaths. Albrecht is next — unless Giselle can save him.

Alonso, now 93 and still leading the National Ballet of Cuba, is one of the foremost interpreters of the role, famed for her ethereal lightness and heartbreaking fragility. On Friday, Alexsandra Meijer wanted the floaty ballon and guileless joie de vivre that makes a convincing Act 1 Giselle. She regained her command in a finely modulated mad scene, ably supported by Karen Gabay as Giselle’s anguished mother.

Travel glitches kept Meijer’s scheduled partner, Yoel Carreño (José’s younger half brother and a principal with the Norwegian Ballet), from guesting as Albrecht. That led to another first, with recently hired principal Brett Bauer debuting in the role on opening night.

Bauer is an elegant dancer, tall and long-limbed, with a buoyant jump and boyish good looks that suit the part. His chemistry with Meijer was understandably chilly in Act 1, given the newness of their partnership, but they warmed up to each other in the afterlife. She infused strength and sorrow into the highly technical adagio and tenderly forgave her betrayer; racked with regret, he trailed after his lost love and elevated her into featherweight lifts.

The entire cast benefited from world-class coaching by Alonso’s longtime stagers Loipa Araújo and Svetlana Ballester. As Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, Amy Marie Briones ruled the underworld with a mighty attack and a bone-chilling stare. Jing Zhang and Cindy Huang, as her deputies Moyna and Zulma, deployed the supple Cuban épaulement better than anyone else onstage. The corps synchronized their movements down to the merciless wrist flicks with which they dispatched their pleading victims.

In the evening’s final first, Carreño himself debuted as Albrecht’s rival, Hilarion. Carreño played his hateful jealousy to the rafters, but didn’t sufficiently fear those fluffy white Wilis.